What it takes to become a Seismologist

Sylvana Pilidou, Seismologist at the Geological Survey Department, Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment in Cyprus. A seismologist is a scientist who studies earthquakes, their causes, such as the movement of tectonic plates on the Earth’s crust as well as their effects, such as tsunamis. A seismologist analyses and interprets seismological data through the use of seismographs and other instruments, which measure the magnitude and intensity of an earthquake.

TASKS & RESPONSIBILITIES

Monitoring of the earthquake sequence and
informing the public and media.

Processing, evaluating and interpreting
earthquake data (a network for recording earthquake data may detect thousands
of earthquakes), sharing this information with collaborators, and posting it to
social media (website, twitter, facebook).

Maintaining specialized instruments at remote
seismological stations or fixing a problem that has caused a disruption in its
operation and maybe loss of seismic data.

Investigating problems on the various servers and
computers of a seismological centre, where specialized software is in
continuous operation to receive, archive and process seismic data, to supply
public websites and several other venues.

Expanding of networks for recording
earthquake data with new stations, which involves supply of equipment by
special procedures, configuring the equipment, preparing the installation site,
and installing it.

SKILLS

Professional

IT skillstools and instruments used by a seismologist: seismometers, accelerometers, seismic sensors, software etc.)

Critical thinking and problem-solving skills:Gathering all sorts of different information (from scientific data, to testimonies of people who experienced the earthquake, to field observations) and employ all sorts of different skills to try to understand and explain an earthquake

Computational thinking skills: Pinpoint errors that might be introduced in the computing processing by human mistakes or algorithm bugs.

Personal

Collaboration: Collaborating with academic institutions for research projects.

Communication:Dissemination of information related to earthquakes to the public via the social media (website, twitter, facebook), articles and face to face presentations

HOW TO BECOME SEISMOLOGIST:

Which subjects´ knowledge is essential for a career?

Knowledge from
physics, mathematics, geology, computing for data processing and evaluation and
interpretation of results, and then engineering, telecommunications,
information technology to keep the specialized instruments of seismological
stations operational and to keep the network of recording earthquake data in
good shape, delivering data from all remote stations to seismological centres
24 seven.

A bachelor’s
degree in Physics and a Master’s degree or a PhD on earthquake seismology
are recommended.

Conducting fieldwork and getting research
or laboratory experience are good ways for prospective seismologists to prepare
for a career. These experiences may be available to both undergraduate and
graduate students. Summer camps may also allow students to apply their
knowledge by collecting and analyzing their own data.

– CAREER PROSPECT:

The development of earthquake
early warning systems will affect future opportunities in this field. The
development of these systems is still in experimental stage, but they will save
lives in the future provided that they will become fully functional.

According to the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics, jobs in this field are expected to increase 14% from 2016-2026,
which is faster than average for all occupations.

Q: If you could start all over again, how you would change your career path? A: “If I could start all over again, I would still follow some branch of applied physics, but I would most probably decide to stay abroad and follow a purely academic career, as the opportunities for such a career in Cyprus are quite limited.”

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Teaching ICT with Inquiry is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union (Grant Agreement N. 2018-1-LT01-KA201-047065). The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsi­ble for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.